"By mid-1996, Mitsubishi's rallying success began to really reflect in Lancer Evolution sales. The 1996 World Rally Championship season brought Mitsubishi, a new driver, the blisteringly quick Finn named Tommi Makinen, and its first World Rally Championship drivers' title. By 1997, rallying had captured the imagination of people all over the world and Mitsubishi sold 6,000 Evolution IVs in the first three days of its launch! In the latter-half of 1999, Mitsubishi unleashed a special edition to celebrate its favourite drivers four consecutive WRC drivers' titles from 1996-1999, the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VI 'Tommi Makinen Edition' (TME). The Evolution VI was already a technological tour de force, but the TME had a more responsive titanium turbocharger, uprated and lowered suspension, quicker steering, a different exhaust, a new ECU, beefed-up transfer case internals, a redesigned front bumper for even better cooling and authentic 17” WRC Enkei alloy wheels. Plus, there was a special interior, featuring embossed Recaro seats, a Momo steering wheel with red stitching. The performance upgrades saw the 0-60mph sprint obliterated in 4.4 seconds and a maximum top speed of 150mph. Power was rumoured to be over 300bhp, rather than the 276bhp stated.
This lovely, right hand drive, UK supplied, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI ‘Tommi Makinen’ Edition, numbered 029, was first registered in April 2001 and has been serviced and fully maintained since with a fully stamped service book. In 2014, at about 70,000 miles the engine was removed and completely rebuilt, uprated and balanced using a number of racing components including C-Tec tubular exhaust manifold, a Precision 6262 Generation 2 Turbo charger and a new remapped ECU, all at a cost of over £10,000. It was then Dyno’d on a rolling road giving a reading of 570bhp. Finished with silver paintwork and having the correct original black and red chequered Recaro seats, the car is supplied with a V5C registration document, an MoT test certificate which expires in August 2024, the handbook pack containing the fully stamped service book and a file with invoices, previous MoT test certificates, which include details and invoices relating to the engine rebuild including the Dyno results. These rare, highly collectable, rally homologation icons continue to generate serious interest with collectors worldwide.
"